Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. The shelling of the Russian embassy in Damascus is a terrorist attack aimed at intimidating supporters of fighting against terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"Our ambassador confirmed the report about the shelling," Lavrov said. "Two mines fell on the territory of the Russian embassy in Damascus. One - on the sports ground, another - on the roof of a residential house. No one was injured," he added. "This is obviously a terrorist attack aimed at intimidating supporters of the fight against terrorism and at preventing them from dominating in the fight against extremists," the foreign minister said.

"It was known that ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - former name of the Islamic State terrorist organization] and Jebhat al-Nusra have spread their influence to the suburbs of Damascus," the foreign minister continued. "More than that, the so-called Army of Islam has been very active in the region around the capital. Some media tried to present them as moderate oppositionists. However, these moderate oppositionists, according to our statistics also confirmed by international observers, are more often involved in shellings of residential areas of Damascus, in indiscriminate raids that result in the death of people," Lavrov said. "They also stage persecutions, including those connected with massacre of religious minorities," he noted.

"We hope that the perpetrators will be established and measures to prevent such incidents in the future will be taken," he added.

Earlier today, a demonstration in support of Russia’s military operation in Syria was held near the Russian embassy in Damascus. Several thousands of Syrians are reported to have taken part in the demonstration. "Demonstrators expressed their gratitude to the Russian leadership for providing military assistance to Syria in the fight against terrorism," SANA news agency reported.

During the demonstration, the embassy was shelled. Two mines fell on its territory. The embassy’s First Secretary Eldar Kurbanov told TASS that "no one was injured among staff, only material damage was done.".